Residents of Bhamorikhal, the native village of CDS General Bipin Rawat in Pauri Garhwal district, mourned his demise in a chopper crash on Wednesday. Uncle of General Rawat, Bharat Singh Rawat said that the General had great affection for his family and this place. “It is a painful incident. He had great affection for this place. He used to visit here during childhood and also after he became General in the Army. He had said he would visit again. It is a great loss not just for us as a family but also for the whole nation,” he said. Bharat Singh Rawat said that he would visit Gen Rawat’s residence in New Delhi.
General Rawat, India’s first CDS, was on a visit to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the Staff Course when his chopper crashed. General Rawat was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defense Staff on December 31, 2019. He previously served as Chief of the Army Staff from January 2017 to December 2019. He was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978.